Bill 35: The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse welcomes proposed changes to the Civil Code to protect the rights of illiterate and deaf persons
Montréal, May 21, 2013 – The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse welcomes the proposed changes to the Civil Code that are designed to put an end to discrimination against illiterate and deaf persons by allowing them to use the services of an interpreter to write their will.
The Commission had previously recommended that illiterate and deaf persons should be guaranteed the right to the services of a qualified court interpreter to write their will, following a complaint it had received from a citizen.
The Commission forwarded its comments on Bill 35 - An Act to amend the Civil Code as regards civil status, successions and the publication of rights – to the Committee on Institutions and to Justice Minister, Bertrand St-Arnaud, on Friday May 17, 2013.
The Civil Code currently provides procedures to allow deaf, mute, blind or illiterate persons to make wills. However, a deaf or mute person that is also illiterate are prohibited from making a notarial will or a will before witnesses because of the current wording of Civil Code, which constitutes a discriminatory violation of rights protected under the Québec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
“We are satisfied with the legislative changes that meet our recommendations made repeatedly, to a number of justice ministers over the past years,” said today the President of the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, Gaétan Cousineau. “However, we note that other changes to the Civil Code must also be made so that transgender and transsexual people can fully exercise their right to equality.”
Towards respect of transgender and transsexual rights
Some of the proposals in the Bill would eliminate the obligation to publish notices of change of name and sex in newspapers, when such a request is related to a change in a person’s sexual identity. The Commission had previously cautioned the former justice minister that such a practice could violate transsexuals’ rights to respect for their private life, personal security and inviolability. This proposed change represents an important step towards the recognition of the rights of transsexuals, according to the Commission.
However, the Commission believes that other changes are also needed. The Civil Code does not currently allow a transsexual to request changing his or her sex on a birth certificate unless the person has “successfully undergone medical treatments and surgical operations involving a structural modification of the sexual organs intended to change his secondary sexual characteristics”, pursuant to section 71.
The Commission believes making name or sex change in the civil status conditional upon having undergone medical treatments or surgery violates several Charter rights of transgender people, including their right to inviolability, to the recognition of a juridical personality, safeguard of dignity and respect of private life.
The Commission’s comments on Bill 35, An Act to amend the Civil Code as regards civil status, successions and the publication of rights, are available in French only on our Web site at: www.cdpdj.qc.ca/storage/app/media/publications/commentaires_PL35_Code_civil_trans_testament_sourd.pdf
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Contact :
Jean-François Gagnon514 873-5146 or 1 800 361-6477 extension 230
jean-francois.gagnon@cdpdj.qc.ca
